This newspaper article was located by Charles E. (Gene) Hales on
a visit to Wales about 1999. The name of the newspaper(s) was not given.
Two accounts of the same incident follow.

A Glanusk Murder Poaching Affray of 1876

In January 1876 the inhabitants of Crickhowell and District were excited
and alarmed at a fatal poaching affray at Glanusk, in which a Gamekeeper
lost his life. The affair remained a sensation for some time, but in spite
of a Magisterial Hearing and Coroners Inquiry, it was never satisfactorily
settled who the assailant was. An account of the Affair, which was published
on 22nd January, 1876 was as follows: One of Sir Joseph Bailey's Gamekeepers
was killed in a desperate affray with poachers early last Saturday morning.
George King, Sir Joseph's Head Gamekeeper, who resided in the Lodge between
Crickhowell and Llangynidr, had that night dispensed with the Watchers who
had been previously employed to protect the game, the season being so far
advanced. He arranged that Philip Hooper, the Under-keeper should remain
up all night and call him if anything transpired. Soon after he han turned
in Hooper called him up, saying he had heard shots fired in the direction
of the Dwfyhant Wood. George King, dressed and accompanied by Hooper, proceeded
in the direction of Llangynidr, where they came across the poachers near
the wood. Shots were fired on both sides, King being struck twice, the first
time in the chest.

The gun was fired at scarcely ten yards distance, the whole charge entering
the poor fellows body. He died within ten minutes after being shot. The shot
came from a field overlooking the road and sheltered by a roadside plantation.
The deceased, who leaves a wife and eight young children had been many years
in the employ of Sir Joseph Bailey and was much respected. The poachers got
clean off.

The affair has excited a most painful interest throughout the week all over
the County and every effort has been made to bring the criminals to Justice.
A county gentleman has offered a reward of 200 Pounds for information that
will lead to their apprehension. A tenant of Sir Joseph Bailey named John
Watkins, who is paying rent of 90 pounds per annum for land upon which the
encounter between the Keepers and the Poachers took place was arrested on
suspicion and brought before Magistrates on Wednesday, charged with killing
George King, but he was acquitted of complicity with the crime.

Eighty Shot Marks

At the Inquest Dr. P.E. Hill stated that the he found shot wounds on both
legs, on the skin, knees and foot-six wounds in all. The serious wounds were
on the right groin and extended eight inches in length and four and a half
in breadth. The skin was completely riddled and he found at least eighty
shot marks.

Mr. Farquhar who appeared for Watkins asked the Coroner if he would accept
bail. Superintendent Evans said that Watkins was in his custody and he did
not intend to part with him except by order of the Magistrate.

The inquest was adjoined to 7th February. At the Magistrates inquiry John
Watkins was charged with the unlawful killing of George King. Mr. D. Thomas
& Son, who was Prosecution for the Crown, said that in the present Inquiry,
there was a great deal of evidence which would not be given that day, but
he thought what would be adduced would be sufficient to make out a Prima
Facie case.

Sir Joseph Bailey put in a plan which he had drawn of the place where the
deceased was shot. He said that on the 6th December, 1872 the deceased found
the prisoner shooting a pheasant and preferred a charge against him, but
the case broke down in the Autumn of last year. He was informed by King that
the prisoner had been ferreting on his land and he directed that a Summons
be taken out against him. The prisoner came to him and acknowledged the ill
feeling existing between him and King, and that the latter would persist
in watching him and causing him annoyance. The witness saw that there was
a great deal of animosity between them, but did not suppose that there was
any murderous intent.

Gamekeeper's Evidence

Philip Hooper, Underkeeper to Sir Joseph Bailey, said that he had been in
his service three weeks. At one o'clock on Saturday morning he was in the
deceased's house. They agreed that King should got to bed and that the witness
should keep garrison until the morning, but if he heard shots he was to call
him up immediately. He went on to the drawbridge when he heard some shots
m the Tower Wood. He at once ran for King, but before he got to his house
a second shot was fired. He called King up and he came downstairs and put
on his clothes outside the house. While he was dressing a third shot was
fired and as they were going from the house, the witness heard a fourth shot
fired. When they came to Dounant they saw the flash of the gun shot towards
them on the Llangynidr side of the cover. The men who shot at them were in
the field at the opposite side of the cover. The first shot was followed
by two others in rapid succession, towards them. The first shot struck the
deceased in the legs. They were working side by side. Three men then made
a rush across the comer of the field into the cover. The deceased fired two
shots at them and the witness followed with the same number. They could have
shot the three men dead if they had wished, but they only wanted to frighten
them. The witness got over the fence into the cover and fired two other shots.
The deceased asked him if he had received any shots and he told him that
he had not. The deceased then informed him that he had been shot very badly
about the legs and asked him to go to the Crickhowell side of the cover and
said that he wold himself go on the right hand side of the cover. When the
witness got over the hedge from the road towards his point, he saw and heard
another shot fired. He was then ten yards from the hedge. He heard the shot
whiz in his direction. When about thirty yards further off he heard three
more shots fired in rapid succession.

I Am A Dying Man

King called out to him "Hooper, my dear man, come here, I am shot ". The
three shots were fired before King called out again "Come here, I am a dying
man".

The witness then went back by the way. He came. King was then lying on his
side with his face towards the cover and with his gun in front of him. The
witness wrapped his rug around him and put him to lie as easy as he could.
King said "May the Lord have mercy on my soul; do not pray for me for I am
a dying man". A person could have heard this twenty yards off, but could
not at a distance of one hundred yards. The witness went for assistance and
called John Walker of the Dunvant, but was not away more than three minutes.
The witness sent to the prisoner's house for his cart, but the prisoner said
that they could not have it, as it was broken. King was shot at three o'clock
and died at four. He gradually lost his voice and died before he was put
into the cart.

The three poachers had their cheeks blackened. He heard the voices, but could
not swear to more than one and that was the prisoner, Watkins!. He had heard
his voice while he had been ploughing in the field. He would swear that Watkins
was one of the men. King said to them "Send for Watkins for I am certain
he will not come". He requested the witness to pray for him several times
and told him not to be so venturesome again. He said "the man could not be
more than eight or ten yards from me when I was shot and I fired both barrels
in the direction from where the shots came."

Pray For My Soul

James Walker, a labourer of the Dounant who was called by the last witness
said that King was alive when he arrived, and he said to the witness "O Walker,
Walker, pray for my poor soul, I wish Heaven was open to receive my soul".
The witness went to Watkins home to ask if he would lend his cart to take
King home as he had been shot. Mrs. Watkins spoke to him from the bedroom,
and he did not see either Mr. or Mrs. Watkins. The prisoner came to the home
of the witness after the body of King had been taken away. This was about
four o'clock in the morning. There was no conversation excepting that Watkins
said "It is a shocking thing" or something to that effect. On Sunday night,
Watkins came to his house again, but did not say anything.

Mrs. Ann Walker, wife of James Walker, said that Watkins came to her house
about four o'clock on Saturday Morning. His face was bandaged up and he had
a mustard poultice on. He said he was suffering from toothache. He said he
did not go to help the deceased, as he felt to fainthearted. He said he would
not go alone, but he would go with her husband.

Cross-examined, the witness said that Watkins said he heard King say "God
have mercy on my soul" and that he did not think King was hit too badly.
In reply the Mr. Farquhar, She said Watkins said he heard King's remarks
as he was passing by the hedge on the road to her house.

A Rusty Gun

Mr. Farquhar put in the gun belonging to the prisoner, which was rusty and
appeared not to have been used for some time. He then called the prisoner's
two daughters and his son, who severally swore to the father being in bed
at the time the shots were fired. The little girl, a child of ten appeared
to possess a clear understanding of the nature of an oath. She said she counted
ten shots and asked her father if he heard the poachers about and he said
"Yes". They all agreed that it was after Walker came for the cart that their
father dressed himself and went out. Those witnesses completed the evidence
offered for the Defence.

Mr. Farquhar now submitted that this fully proved that Watkins was in bed
in his own house at the time the prosecution pretend he was out with the
poachers.

The Chairman of the Magisterial inquiry therefore declared that there was
not sufficient evidence to commit the prisoner for trial and he must therefore
be discharged Mr. Farquhar without a stain on his character. No, we did not
say that, we record our decision, as stated without any remark.

A cheer was on the point of being raised but silence was immediately enforced
on reaching the open air, however a portion of the audience gave vent to
their feelings in loud cheers.

Subsequently Bills were widely posted offering 100 pounds reward and a free
pardon to any one of the poachers, not being the actual murderer who turned
Queen's evidence.

At the adjourned inquest Philip Hooper and other witnesses repeated the evidence.
Hooper stated that King said "Send for Watkins, but I am certain he will
not come, for he is one of the three men who caused my death".

The Jury returned a verdict of "Willful murder against a certain person,
to the Jurors unknown.

1954 Extract Taken Of The Incident From A Local Newspaper Cutting

It is the early hours of the morning. Two Gamekeepers on a large estate brave
the cold, January air to try to apprehend a number of poachers. They draw
near to them, there is the sound of shots and one of the Gamekeepers falls
to the ground fatally injured...

A scene from a recent film? Or perhaps part of a "thriller" fresh from the
publishers? It is neither, but a true-to-life incident which took place in
the Crickhowell district exactly seventy-eight years ago - way back in 1876
when poaching was more prevalent than it is today.

Very few happenings at Crickhowell before - and indeed, if any, since - caused
so much tongue-wagging and speculation. A Gamekeeper murdered and brought
home in an old cart - what a topic for discussion! But let this sordid tale
begin where it should - at the beginning.

A Flash of Gun Shots

George King, a respected man in the district , was a married man with a family.
He was also Head Gamekeeper on the Glanusk estate to Sir Joseph Bailey, and
had been greatly concerned about the activities of some stop-at-nothing poachers.
And so it was that at about one a.m. on the third Saturday in January, 1876,
that King and an Underkeeper named Philip Hooper were chatting in King's
house on the estate. The men agreed that King should go to bed and that Hooper
should "keep garrison" until the morning. If any shots were heard, however,
King was to be called immediately. King went to bed, and his companion went
out into the night.

It was when Hooper reached a nearby drawbridge that the first heard the sound
of shots fired in a wood not far away. At once he ran for King, and King
dressed rapidly. Then on the Llangynir side of the cover, they saw the flash
of gun shots.

Convinced that these were the poachers, the two Gamekeepers decided to separate
so that they would stand a better chance of catching the nefarious "invaders"'
but before they were able to do so they unexpectedly came upon the poachers
who began firing at them. King went one way, Hooper the other. Then a regular
fusillade of shots came from a thicket and King sank to the ground, bleeding
profusely from his stomach, abdomen and legs. After a further exchange of
shots had taken place Hooper returned to the Head Gamekeeper and found him
to be a dying man.

Who was the murderer? The Inquest was held at the Six Bells Inn, Llangattock,
on the Monday, and on the next day John Watkins "a respectable tenant farmer
paying a rental of 90 pounds a year among whose fields the covers were situated"
appeared at Crickhowell Police Court charged with King's murder, described
by a "Chronicle" Reporter of that time as "one of the most deliberate and
cold-blooded that ever characterized a poaching affray".

No Murderous Animosity

Thee Court was packed to capacity and the tense crowd listened carefully
as Sir Joseph Bailey told how, four years previously, King had found Watkins
shooting a pheasant. And the previous Autumn, Sir Joseph added, he learned
that Watkins had been ferreting on his land, and had directed a Summons to
be taken out against him. Watkins, however, had called to see him and asked
to be forgiven and no further action was taken.

"The prisoner complained of an ill-feeling existing between him and King".
Sir Joseph told the Magistrates "I saw that there was a great deal of animosity
existing between the men, but I did not suppose there was any murderous emnity.
"

Philip Hooper, the Under Gamekeeper, was next to give evidence. He said that
there were three poachers, all of whom had blackened their faces. He swore
that one of the men was Watkins, who wore breeches and leggings. 'Mere could
be no mistake as it was a bright moonlight night.

John Walker, a labourer, told how he had been called from his bed by Hooper
at about 3:00a.m. and how he had called at the prisoner's house to borrow
his cart to convey the body of King. Watkins and he was sure if he was told
that he couldn't have the cart as it was broken.

The Vital Alibi

After other witnesses had given evidence Mr. Farquhar, an Abergavenny Solicitor,
defending Watkins, produced a legal bombshell. He said that had he not believed
Watkins was innocent he would not have taken the case. "I shall endeavour
to prove an alibi by calling witnesses to show that the prisoner was in bed
at home in the morning in question", he declared, "and that when the Police
went to his house they found his gun rusty and it had evidently not been
used for some time".

And that is what he did. The vital alibi was supplied by Watkins! two young
children. They swore that their father was in bed with them at the time of
the shooting, one of them saying that he was in the same bed as his father.

It wasnl't much, but it was enough to secure Watkins an acquittal and prevent
him from being hanged. That afternoon crowds of people attended the funeral
of the murdered Gamekeeper which took place a Llangattock. And as they watched
the coffin being lowered into the grave the majority of them must have wondered
who was responsible for his death.